From retail survival and sustainability investment through to the impact of automation and major political and economic change, Cushman & Wakefield’s new EMEA insight report explores the major themes the commercial real estate industry needs to keep in mind next year.

TriGranit has laid the foundation stone of the first phase of its new Class-A office development, Silesia for Business in Katowice, Poland. The office building will be the final element of the mixed-use development project of TriGranit, started 15 years ago and realised on a 30 hectares large brownfield area. The post-mining area today includes a shopping mall and residential estates, while the new office building, providing approx. 26,000 sqm GLA and more than 400 parking spaces, is expected to be completed in Q4, 2021.

Polish modular producer Polcom will be able to expand its operations thanks to a financial package provided by a consortium of banks to which the EBRD is contributing PLN 108.43 million (€25 million equivalent).

The development of e-commerce has a growing impact on the development of the industrial real estate sector. The origins can be found in the change of our shopping habits – the popularization of e-commerce has revolutionized logistics operations in warehouses, according to Adrian Semaan, Consultant at the Industrial and Logistics Agency at Cushman & Wakefield Poland.

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across main CEE markets, even though the Czech Republic has posted its most subdued set of readings in four years. In many countries, demand for retail assets fell on both the occupier and investment sides of the market. Based on rental and capital value projections, secondary retail is visibly suffering in Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

According to a new report by Panattoni and CBRE, the attitude towards the future in the logistics, production and trade industries changed slightly compared to last year. The Optimism Level Index in Logistics and Supply Chain in Poland for 2019-2020 was determined at an average level of 49 points, which is lower than the result obtained last year (57.4). Logistics companies are again more positive about the future (53.9 points) than production and trade enterprises using logistics services (44 points). Despite this change in mood, as many as 7 out of 10 institutions assess the costs of supply chain operations in Poland as lower than the EU average, and 6 out of 10 believe that Poland is competitive as a place of investment - both statistics have increased since last year.

According to data from JLL, Poland's supply of mixed-use commercial space has increased nearly six-fold over the last ten years. Mixed-use projects often require major revitalization and reconstruction, in a number of Poland's major metropolitan areas. Such projects include Elektrownia Powiśle, The Warsaw HUB and Koneser in Warsaw, Monopolis in Łódź, and Browar Lubicz in Kraków.  

Panattoni Europe has built a facility for Amazon in Gliwice of record-breaking size and functionality. The project, featuring in excess of 210,000 sqm and four storeys, is the company’s largest building in the country and has been fitted out with advanced Amazon Robotics technology.

Chris Zeuner has been appointed a Non-Executive Director at 7R - one of Poland’s most active and fastest-growing logistics and warehouse developers. His expertise and strong pan-European experience will support 7R’s ambitious development targets and the company’s growth strategy for the upcoming years.

New Work has been expanding rapidly in the Polish market during 2019. In total, the company has added six locations to its Polish portfolio over the past 10 months.